Anti-Indigenous agreement seals comitment of the government with
Aracruz Cellulose S/A

Cimi, Brazilia-DF, 20 April 1998

During its 25 years of uncompromising support to the cause of
Indigenous Peoples, CIMI thought that it had already seen, mainly
during military dictatorship, all kinds of violence against these
Peoples. This happens to be a merely deception.

On the 18th of March 1998 the Brazilian Government unleashed a
military operation to put an end to the struggle of the Tupinikim and
Guarani Indians for the demarcation of their lands and to oblige them
to accept the impositions of the multinational Aracruz Celulose. The
roads which give access to the indigenous villages were occupied by a
heavily armed federal police force in order to impede that the Indians
would continue to receive support and solidarity in the
self-demarcation of their lands. Trade union leaders from CUT (Central
Unico dos Trabalhadores - Central Workers Union) were arrested,
interrogated and treated like criminals for having shown solidarity
with the Indians. Representatives of the MST (Movimento dos
Trabalhadores Sem Terra - Movement of Workers without Land) were
removed by force from the village of Pau Brasil in the early morning
and transported in vehicles lent by Aracruz Celulose. The dutch
missionary Winfried Overbeek was arbitrarely arrested by the Federal
Police and threathened to be expelled from the country.

During the negotiation period in Brasilia, the Indigenous leaders of
the Executive Commission of the Tupinikim and Guarani were maintained
isolated and pressured to submit themselves to the decision of the
Federal Government to reduce their traditionally occupied lands to
2,571 ha (decrees nr. 193 and 195/98 from the ex-Minister of Justice
Iris Resende), in convenience with Aracruz Celulose.

This conduct of the Government, which aimed to intimidate the Indians
and to stop them from fully demarcating their lands, was
'crowned' with an outcome maybe even more spurious. On the 2nd
of March the Tupinikim and Guarani leaders signed an agreement called
'Term of Adjustment of Conduct' (Termo de Ajustamento de
Conduta), valid for a period of 20 years. In the Term the Indians
'allow' to EXCHANGE THE LIMITS OF THEIR TRADITIONALLY OCCUPIED
LANDS FOR MONEY AND ASSISTANCE PROJECTS BEING PROVIDED BY ARACRUZ
CELULOSE. The Term was also signed by the President of FUNAI (Fundacao
Nacional do Indio - National Indian Foundation), Sulivan Silvestre
Oliveira, and by representatives of the Federal Public Prosecution
Service (which has as a constitutional duty to defend rights and
interests of Indigenous Peoples).

The presence of the federal police force was maintained until the 8th
of April in order to guarantee that the agreement signed in Brasilia
would get the approval of the indigenous communities. By means of the
decree 268/98 of the President of FUNAI, the Indians are still
forbidden to receive in their own lands the organisations which
support their struggle, organisations of the civil society which for
many years are giving them support and are showing solidarity.

In the face of the seriousness of the exposed situation, CIMI comes to
declare that it:

1. considers the 'agreement' SCANDALOUS and IMMORAL. It was
obtained by means which offend seriously the fundamental rights and
liberties guaranteed in the Federal Constitution valid for any
individual - including the Indians - . Also, it is extremely harmful
to the rights and interests of the mentioned indigenous communities
and to their physical and socio-cultural integrity. Finally, it is
flagrantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL by violating Art. 231, par. 4, of the same
Constitution which orders that indigenous lands are 'NOT
TRANSFERRABLE' and 'UNAVAILABLE', and therefore NOT
NEGOTIABLE.

2. rejects vehemently the role of the President of FUNAI in the whole
episode, since who has the legal duty to protect and make respect the
indigenous rights never could have assumed a supposedly impartial
posture and much less participated in the pressures on those whose
rights he should defend.

3. denounces the anti-indigenist policy of the Federal Government,
which prefers to hit the Constitution in its sacred rights which
recognise the demarcation of lands traditionally occupied by
indigenous peoples, benefitting the interests of a multinational
company which invaded these mentioned lands.

4. clamours, for the benefit of the public interest and a state which
respects democracy and civil rights, for the imediate repeal of the
decrees nrs. 253 and 268/98 which forbid the entrance of
non-governmental organizations in the indigenous lands Tupinikim and
Guarani in Espirito Santo.

5. elevates the gestures of solidarity that the Indians received from
so many parts of the land and from abroad, especially from the society
of Espirito Santo which always has been in favour of the Indians
struggle. It is worth emphasizing that the support and solidarity of
the MST, CUT, the Workers Party, human rights organizations and other
organizations of the state of Espirito Santo, obtained special
importance during the self-demarcation promoted by the Tupinikim and
Guarani. At the same time, CIMI rejects the usage of legislation to
impede the fundamental right of showing solidarity.

6. wants to show all its solidarity with the Tupinikim and Guarani
communities, victims of so much pressure, and reaffirms its
uncompromising support to their struggle for a real solution of the
problem, that is to say, the demarcation of the 13,579 ha,
untransferrable and essential right which no agreement can undo.